The promise of a cable as a
new conduit for the delivery of voice and data has thrust a formerly
tight-knit industry to the forefront of the telecommunications revolution.

To take advantage of these new opportunities, the cable industry is rapidly
consolidating to grab a share of the new market. Yet the flurry of mergers
and acquisitions has left competitors with an increasingly shrinking pool
of possible partners, according to analysts.

Shares in @Home Network, a cable-based
high-speed Net access provider controlled by AT&T, also performed well, gaining nearly 9
percent at the close of market trading.

But analysts say that AT&T's bid to buy MediaOne may signal the last of the
large cable acquisitions in the near term, rather than spark a flurry of
continued acquisition deals.

"Most of the biggest guys are gone. It's pretty much slim pickings at this
point," said Philip Wohl, a telecommunications analyst with financial
publisher S&P Equity Group. "It's going to be hard for an MCI or a Sprint
to duplicate [AT&T's] effort. They've pretty much beat everyone to
the punch."

In addition to AT&T's megamerger with the former Tele-Communications Incorporated and its
proposed purchase of No. 3 MediaOne, a number of smaller cable operators
have been gobbled up--or are in the process of being acquired--by the
so-called middle tier of cable operators.

Last month, Adelphia announced it would acquire Century. Coupled with its
proposed acquisition of Harron
Communications, Adelphia is expected to have about 5 million subscribers,
landing the company solidly in the increasingly fatter middle tier of the
market.

Just yesterday Cox agreed to
buy Media General, a 260,000-subscriber strong cable operator, but the deal
was drowned out by the commotion created by AT&T's MediaOne bid.

Charter has been among the most aggressive in adding smaller cable
companies to its stable. The cable operator will have about 3 million
subscribers after a number of deals involving Marcus Cable, Helicon Cable Communications, Greater
Media, Rifkin Acquisition Partners, InterMedia, and Renaissance Media
Group, are completed.